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yallasome arakao thoughts
this is not my arakao thesis i feel like that would have to be fleshed out in a longfic or just a really lengthy post. but it's definitely a portion of how arakao would work in my mind. there are a number of reasons that i like them and they're like 1) 1pick2pick 2a) similarities of image and differences in how that image aligns with the "real" self 2b) specifically in the realm of gender presentation and gendered image which also ties in to 3) t4t. etc etc. but anyway even with these reasons, one of the core tenets of arakao dynamic is the lack of proximity to each other. "then you can just ship them with ANYONE at that point you're literally just 2picking!!!!1" yes but also no.
i'll probably go into this in another piece for archival purposes but arashi and kaoru are like actually similar in the ways that they both lean on gender performance for their respective personae - arashi to fit herself into the frameworks of what is considered "womanhood" and kaoru in order to be a "man". in these ways it's striking in how they project themselves to the public in general. arashi leans into the role of the mature older sister not only to her fans but also in her group of knights - notably, in starfes leo admits that he doesn't know much about her, because she does not really let anyone know about her beyond what she functions as. in many ways, arashi projects the older sister image because she believes that it's what she has to be - if not in order to be a woman, at least in order to make up for who she was in her first year. flip it a little and you get ! kaoru, consciously playing into the masculine ideal. not the same, but in a similar vein, kaoru projects an image based on who he thinks he should be. he flirts with girls and actively avoids any sort of vulnerability with men and cites reasons like "it's weird for a guy to [xyz]" and "coming from a guy..." and it's more like a chanted mantra than anything he genuinely believes. this plus his reaction to actually talking to arashi in operetta and he's like almost Too careful about how he talks to her and to me it's like oh. he's seeing himself in the face of a stranger. and when you put these together it gives you a lot of room with how you want to portray their interactions and potential relationship - whether romantic or not. (i do read kaoru as lgbt on six sides like a die and specifically trans x2 lesbian x2 on those sides so it does inform how i imagine arakao but whatever this is my playground like no one else gaf soooooo)
anyway i think what's most intriguing to me about arakao is the idea of them struggling to see each other, and both of them trying to figure the other out. i think it's kinda obvious based on what i've already written and in what i have planned for them in the future, but i'm not especially interested in an established relationship or them having history or whatever like it doesn't do it for me. arakao long-time partners or childhood friends or whatever means nothing to me! i want fresh blood. and it WORKS as fresh blood bc that's like all you can do with their 2 canon interactions unless you want to mangle them a bit - but also. it's just more interesting. they don't know each other. the canon interactions in question consist of them being like "oh you're here too." *gives ever-so-slightly too much personal information* like when you tell a stranger that your day was shitty bc you're sure you'll never see them again. and they're not going to see each other again unless you (here meaning "i") put them in situations.
and because they're two characters who would not interact naturally, the getting-to-know aspect of the relationship is the fun part. like yeah i'm going to force them into situations. they're going to know it too! that's when it gets juicy and the Dynamix start to shine. like okay now i know that you know that i know...but do you? are we going to do anything about that? who moves first? who loses? what are we playing in the first place? the illegibility the perception the image issues.... identity! self-recognition in the other! i think it's fun to think about the ways they'd interact BECAUSE of how they don't know each other, rather than in spite of it. and the slow opening up.. 2 steps forward 2 steps back.. progress isn't linear Thing. there's potential for ruination, and potential for love...
in the end i guess it is Something of a 2pickship because you can invent parallels with most enstars characters if you try hard enough. it doesn't have to be arakao. but if it is arakao i like the idea of it being something that sticks unintentionally and they just keep rolling with it because inertia is a force that they don't care to try to stop on purpose. and it just keeps happening. it doesn't have to be them but if it is - here's the impact.
this is not my arakao thesis i feel like that would have to be fleshed out in a longfic or just a really lengthy post. but it's definitely a portion of how arakao would work in my mind. there are a number of reasons that i like them and they're like 1) 1pick2pick 2a) similarities of image and differences in how that image aligns with the "real" self 2b) specifically in the realm of gender presentation and gendered image which also ties in to 3) t4t. etc etc. but anyway even with these reasons, one of the core tenets of arakao dynamic is the lack of proximity to each other. "then you can just ship them with ANYONE at that point you're literally just 2picking!!!!1" yes but also no.
i'll probably go into this in another piece for archival purposes but arashi and kaoru are like actually similar in the ways that they both lean on gender performance for their respective personae - arashi to fit herself into the frameworks of what is considered "womanhood" and kaoru in order to be a "man". in these ways it's striking in how they project themselves to the public in general. arashi leans into the role of the mature older sister not only to her fans but also in her group of knights - notably, in starfes leo admits that he doesn't know much about her, because she does not really let anyone know about her beyond what she functions as. in many ways, arashi projects the older sister image because she believes that it's what she has to be - if not in order to be a woman, at least in order to make up for who she was in her first year. flip it a little and you get ! kaoru, consciously playing into the masculine ideal. not the same, but in a similar vein, kaoru projects an image based on who he thinks he should be. he flirts with girls and actively avoids any sort of vulnerability with men and cites reasons like "it's weird for a guy to [xyz]" and "coming from a guy..." and it's more like a chanted mantra than anything he genuinely believes. this plus his reaction to actually talking to arashi in operetta and he's like almost Too careful about how he talks to her and to me it's like oh. he's seeing himself in the face of a stranger. and when you put these together it gives you a lot of room with how you want to portray their interactions and potential relationship - whether romantic or not. (i do read kaoru as lgbt on six sides like a die and specifically trans x2 lesbian x2 on those sides so it does inform how i imagine arakao but whatever this is my playground like no one else gaf soooooo)
anyway i think what's most intriguing to me about arakao is the idea of them struggling to see each other, and both of them trying to figure the other out. i think it's kinda obvious based on what i've already written and in what i have planned for them in the future, but i'm not especially interested in an established relationship or them having history or whatever like it doesn't do it for me. arakao long-time partners or childhood friends or whatever means nothing to me! i want fresh blood. and it WORKS as fresh blood bc that's like all you can do with their 2 canon interactions unless you want to mangle them a bit - but also. it's just more interesting. they don't know each other. the canon interactions in question consist of them being like "oh you're here too." *gives ever-so-slightly too much personal information* like when you tell a stranger that your day was shitty bc you're sure you'll never see them again. and they're not going to see each other again unless you (here meaning "i") put them in situations.
and because they're two characters who would not interact naturally, the getting-to-know aspect of the relationship is the fun part. like yeah i'm going to force them into situations. they're going to know it too! that's when it gets juicy and the Dynamix start to shine. like okay now i know that you know that i know...but do you? are we going to do anything about that? who moves first? who loses? what are we playing in the first place? the illegibility the perception the image issues.... identity! self-recognition in the other! i think it's fun to think about the ways they'd interact BECAUSE of how they don't know each other, rather than in spite of it. and the slow opening up.. 2 steps forward 2 steps back.. progress isn't linear Thing. there's potential for ruination, and potential for love...
in the end i guess it is Something of a 2pickship because you can invent parallels with most enstars characters if you try hard enough. it doesn't have to be arakao. but if it is arakao i like the idea of it being something that sticks unintentionally and they just keep rolling with it because inertia is a force that they don't care to try to stop on purpose. and it just keeps happening. it doesn't have to be them but if it is - here's the impact.
